Fish landings accumulated up to March 2012 totalled 1,031,000 tonnes, that is to say, 12 per cent less than in the first three months of 2011, when 1,155,000 tonnes were landed, reported the Undersecretary of Fisheries (Subpesca).

According to the latest Report of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector issued by the entity, the catching sector provided 814,900 tonnes in the first quarter of 2012 while the aquaculture sector harvests reached 216,100 tonnes.

About 67.4 per cent of the catching sector landings consisted of pelagic resources, a percentage that is slightly lower than a year earlier, which was 70.2 per cent.

Landings of sardine, horse mackerel and anchovy constituted respectively 38.2 per cent, 20.7 per cent and 18.1 per cent of the total landings of the catching sector until March 2012.

These landings were concentrated in regions V and X, which together received 495,100 tonnes or 73 per cent of the total.

Further back ranked the regions XV to II, where landings totalled 142,600 tonnes (21 per cent), and regions III and IV, which accounted for 2.3 per cent of landings, represented by 15,400 tonnes.

As to catches of demersal fisheries, up to March 2012 3,584 tonnes of southern hake were landed, 15.1 per cent less than in the same period in 2011 (4,222 tonnes).

The main contribution came from the artisanal fleet, with 2,791 tonnes while industrial vessels landed 793 tonnes.

Subpesca also reported that the landing of hake accumulated up to March of this year totalled 9,197 tonnes, representing a rise of 7.2 per cent over 2011 (8,577 tonnes).

Between January and March, 2012 a volume of 320 tonnes of Patagonian toothfish (Chilean sea bass) was landed while in the first quarter of 2011 there were no landings.

Until last March there were no yellow squat lobster landings.

In the first three months 375 tonnes of golden kingklip were also landed compared to 289 tonnes in the same period last year, that is to say, 29.8 per cent more.

Meanwhile, the National Fisheries Service (Sernapesca) reported that aquaculture harvests totalled 145,300 tonnes last February, a figure which represents a decrease of 3.8 per cent compared with the same two months of 2011, when 151,000 tonnes were harvested.

The main resources produced nationally were mussels, Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout and Pacific salmon, which accounted respectively for 27.5 per cent, 24.6 per cent, 24.5 per cent and 20.8 per cent of the total harvested products.

Regions X and XI generated most of the harvests: a total of 102,000 tonnes and 39,700 tonnes, respectively.

The harvests of mussels totalled 39,953 tonnes in February, 2012, 45.1 per cent less than the amount accumulated in the same two months of 2011 (72,821 tonnes). 100 per cent of the harvest came from Region X.

The Atlantic salmon harvests totalled 35,778 tonnes in February, 2012, 92.6 per cent more than the volume accumulated in the same two months of 2011 (18,576 tonnes). Most of the production came from Regions XI (21,800 tonnes) and X (12,000 tonnes).

Meanwhile, rainbow trout harvests totalled 35,642 tonnes in February, 39.3 per cent more than the amount accumulated up to the same two months of 2011 (25,580 tonnes). Most production was from Regions X (28,700 tonnes) and XI (6,600 tonnes).

Finally, the Pacific salmon harvest reached 30,300 tonnes in the first two months of this year, representing a slight volume increase of 1.1 per cent year-on-year. Most of the production was provided by Regions X (19,000 tonnes) and XI (11,300 tonnes).

Growing fears of Mexican blockade to Honduran shrimp Honduras
Farmed shrimp producers from several Mexican states are exercising further pressure on the Government of Mexico to block the entry of Honduran shrimp into their country, the head of the Secretariat of Agriculture and Livestock reported.